ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ All we can take out of Friday night is that perhaps the A's shouldn't be allowed out of the Bay Area.
A 13-4 defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays would, for another team, have been perhaps the worst loss of the year. For the A's, it was another in a string. Oakland is 8-21 in road games this year. That's a major part of the A's 26-34 record, worst in the American League West.
Of course, playing on the road is only part of the A's issue. Oakland has given up at least 10 runs in a game eight times and has been scorched by at least five homers in three different games.
A's starter Andrew Triggs' retrograde skid picked up speed in this one. He could have gotten out of the first without damage, but after two walks, he threw a 1-2 pitch that Steven Souza Jr. crushed for a three-run homer to left.
That set the tone for the evening. Jesus Sucre doubled in a run in the second and Colby Rasmus' single made it 5-0 in the third. Triggs never made it out of the fourth. Mallex Smith hit a two-run homer and Logan Morrison a solo shot and the A's deficit exploded to 8-0 before Zach Neal came out of the bullpen.
On another night, Triggs might have been out of the game earlier. However, the American League's only scheduled doubleheader of the season has the Rays hosting the A's for two games Saturday, and manager Bob Melvin was leery of burning through his bullpen Friday night.
It was the worst game of the season for Triggs, who was tagged for nine hits and eight earned runs. It's part of a steady downturn for the right-handed sidearm thrower. In his first eight starts he'd allowed two or fewer runs six times. In his last four starts he's allowed 26 runs, 20 of those earned.
In the process, his ERA has ballooned from 2.12 on May 16 to 4.27 now.
Neal had troubles of his own, including a five-run, two-homer inning in the fifth, but after Corey Dickerson's homer pushed the Rays' lead to 13-0 in the bottom of the fifth, Neal's stuff kicked in and he retired 11 of the next 12 men he faced.
And that, if nothing else, preserved the bullpen for Saturday's doubleheader. It may bode ill for Neal, who may be sent down since he wouldn't be able to pitch for the A's until at least Tuesday since he threw the final 41/3 innings.
Oakland didn't get on the scoreboard against Tampa Bay starter Alex Cobb until the sixth inning when, with two out, Jed Lowrie doubled and scored on Khris Davis' single. An inning later, Stephen Vogt blasted his fourth homer.
And Oakland jumped on reliever Ryan Garton for two runs in the eighth, Adam Rosales providing an RBI double and a second run scoring when Ryon Healy made to first base on a strikeout-plus-wild pitch.
